Richard Parker - Elsewhere

Once dressed, she sat on the bed for an hour waiting for the night to deepen. When she could stand it no longer, she stood and slipped out of the room she occupied at a small inn near the outskirts of town. She would have liked to wait until near the witching hour but she wanted to be well gone before daylight in case the Massi decided to pursue. Still, she was confident the darkness of the early evening would hide her and she was well practiced in the art of appearing invisible.

As it was, she needn’t have to worry about being spotted. If there were sentries she didn’t come across any and the streets of the small town were all but deserted. The lone person she did slip past was so drunk she doubted he would have noticed if she was skipping naked down the center of the road.

But de Baard was not skipping; she was moving stealthily from shadow to shadow, not taking any chances now that she’d finally decided to act. She was so close to eliminating the one person who robbed her of love. The Town Square was eerily vacant but de Baard did not mind in the least. She entered the square directly opposite the Magistrate’s home but was able to circle quickly around. She stopped in the shadows of a tailor’s shop and studied the entry points of the house carefully.

The home was a large two story affair with a long wide porch out front and numerous windows on the main floor, but just a single one above. She saw only one faint light coming from the window on the second floor. The fact that the light varied in intensity told her that it was most likely coming from a lone candle. As de Baard stood there regarding the light a loud cough sounded in the night, coming from off to her right. She peered in the direction, but could not see anyone and finally decided it must have come from an open window. From where she stood she could see a number of windows thrown open in the nearby homes. Most were dark but some were lit brightly, and she could hear the buzzing of several nighttime conversations drifting through the dark. The fall night was cool but could not yet be considered cold and there was little or no breeze to stir the air. Many people were obviously enjoying the pleasant night air. She would have to be mindful. Any cries of pain or fear were sure to be heard by a great number of the town’s citizens. She would have to be quick, careful and above all quiet.

But de Baard was only mildly concerned as she stepped from the shadows and entered the alley which led to the rear of the house. She could kill quietly if need be. It would be good to execute again…she’d grown soft. Perhaps it was for the best that she would leave Gwaynn Massi behind. He made her weak…perhaps she would return one day and finish the job…kill him, cut off his cock, and keep for herself what he denied her.

de Baard smiled. It was a pleasant, heartwarming thought. ‘Yes, it was definitely something to consider; a souvenir from a far off land.’

When she reached the rear of the house she noticed another light twinkling through the window in the back door…which undoubtedly led to the kitchens. The porch in the rear was smaller, painted a soft white and seemed to glow in the light of the half moon. She climbed the stairs, very, very slowly, freezing at the slightest creak or groan from the wood. In her soft, silk slippers, she could move almost soundlessly. It would take keen ears indeed to detect her approach. No one did. de Baard gracefully moved to the right side of the door and stood, her back against the wall of the house and then she carefully peeked inside. She spotted the candle sitting in the middle of a large, sturdy oak table. She could also see red coals burning in the nearby stove and wondered with a little trepidation if someone was preparing to cook something, but after several anxious moments no one appeared.

‘The time is now.’ She thought to herself and carefully began to move the handle of the door. She moved incredibly slowly, revealing the great patience necessary to be a first rate Executioner. The door was not locked, and de Baard had a suspicion that very few of the doors in the town of Colchester would be locked…small town…small town ways. The latch on the door clicked softly, barely audible even to de Baard who was anticipating the sound and she smiled. She began to push the door in ever so gently, again patiently. She pushed for five….ten….fifteen full minutes, the door only occasionally giving the slightest creak, and then she was inside. A light snore came from a room directly off the kitchen.

‘Servants,’ de Baard thought as she padded quietly to the open door of the bedroom. There was a small fire burning in the room and it was exceedingly hot inside. On the bed de Baard could just make out a pair of lumps…a man and a woman by the looks of them. The man’s breathing was slow and steady, the breath of deep slumber. The woman was emitting the snore, which was still soft and very regular. She stepped quietly into the room on her silk black slippers and walked lightly across the floor until she stood silently over the woman. de Baard pulled her right kali silently from its sheath. She made no sound but the woman stirred and opened her eyes in any case. It took a moment for the old woman to focus in the darkness, but de Baard, dressed all in black, was almost invisible in shadows of the room. By the time the woman realized a black shape was standing over her menacingly, the razor’s edge of the Executioner’s sword had already sliced through her neck and windpipe. de Baard paused to watch as Raisa’s eyes bulge out…all traces of sleep gone from her expression. The woman tried to rise, but de Baard held her down momentarily, but then panic gave the wounded woman uncommon strength and she threw her attacker off quite easily. Raisa sat up terrified and needing air. She tried to breath but nothing would come. Her hands went instinctively to her throat and blood poured over her fingers. She thrashed her head once, then tried to stand, her vision popping with white hot flashes. She staggered into de Baard, who with a quick angry thrust, drove her kali through the woman’s heart and the struggle stopped almost instantly. de Baard held her and even gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before she gently lowered the dead woman to the floor. Unbelievably the man in the bed was still sleeping soundly.

de Baard wiped her bloody hands on the woman’s night gown, unaware that she also had a bright swath of red across her cheek. She walked slowly around to the opposite side of the bed and stood near the sleeping man. de Baard smiled. How the fool was still sleeping she couldn’t imagine, his wife had put up quite a fuss before the end. She shrugged and crept slowly forward, but as she moved a single board gave a loud groan. Without warning the man shot up to a sitting position. de Baard, though startled, did not hesitate. She rammed her kali through the man’s soft belly and then up into his chest cavity. Her victim gave a small cry of pain and surprise then coughed up blood as de Baard tried to jerk the weapon from his body. The point of the kali was stuck, probably on a rib and it took several attempts to free it from the dying man, and all the while the man hissed and moaned loudly instead of dying like he ought. de Baard whispered a curse and finally yanked the weapon loose. She slit the man’s throat and then for good measure drove her kali into his chest once again. Finally he was still.

de Baard stood elated and slightly disgusted. The man voided while dying and the smell was horrendous in the heat of the room. She quickly moved back to the door and out into the kitchen just as heavy footfalls thundered across the ceiling and then down the stairs.

“Raisa?” a loud voice called in the darkness and de Baard instantly recognized it as the fool Cobb. She smiled to herself and backed into the shadows near the foot of the stairwell and waited.